Smug leftist media seemed to relish in the double-standard after an Obama-appointed DC District Court Judge refused to free one of the prominent US Capitol vandals pending his next hearing in May.
BOOM: Here it is. Richard Barnett, alleged US Capitol Insurrectionist who put his feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk, *screamed* this at a judge and attorneys in his DC court hearing this morning===> pic.twitter.com/pJ6bMfRn9P
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) March 4, 2021
The case against Richard Barnett—who was photographed with his feet on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s desk, and later took an envelope and left her a note—is stronger than most.
During the Senate trial against President Donald Trump, House impeachment managers dropped a bombshell by alleging that Barnett was wielding a stun gun.
But investigators have been frustrated over the fact that Barnett appeared to have gotten rid of much of the evidence that might be used against him, including his cell phone.
Barnett initially turned himself in to Arkansas authorities two days after the insurrection, on Jan. 8.
Following a Jan. 15 hearing, the judge ruled that Barnett could be released on $5,000 bond and allowed to remain under house arrest.
But DC prosecutors instead rushed to have his case immediately transferred back to the nation’s capital, where he has remained in custody since Jan. 20.
During a virtual hearing Thursday, Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled that Barnett would remain there for at least another month, prompting an outburst from the defendant.
“Everybody else who did things much worse are already home,” Barnett said. “… I’ve been here for a month, they’re going to set it for another month, and everybody else is getting out.”
His attorney, Joseph McBride, later put the situation into context, noting that the decision to hold him seemed to fly in the face of normal courtroom convention—and the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy, public trial by an impartial jury.
“Mr. Barnett’s frustration stems from the fact that he is incarcerated pre-trial, despite lacking any criminal history, being gainfully employed, respected in his community, and in a stable relationship for over 20 years,” McBride said in a statement to NBC News. “Normally, facts like these are more than enough for an individual to fight their case from the outside.”
NO MERCY
Barnett’s is not an isolated case when it comes to the partisan fervor with which federal authorities have doggedly pursued the pro-Trump demonstrators.
Among them were participants who posed little public threat and who were demonstrating nonviolently at the Capitol, including a 62-year-old Ohio woman and her 70-year-old husband who were deemed “domestic terrorists” due to their affiliation with the veterans’ group the Oath Keepers.
On the other end of the age spectrum is 18-year-old Bruno Cua of Georgia, who attended the rally with his parents. He was indicted on 12 federal charges and has remained in custody since Feb. 5.
District Court Judge Randy Moss decided this week to keep him detained for another two months until his May hearing, with federal prosecutors claiming it would be dangerous to do otherwise.
“This small sample of public social media posts on the platform Parler by the defendant in this case evinces a full picture of who this defendant really is: a radicalized man with violent tendencies and no remorse for his participation in the violent insurrection that occurred at the U.S. Capitol,” assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall wrote in objection to Bruno’s pretrial release, according to American Greatness.
They offered as further incriminating evidence the fact that Cua had publicly expressed doubt about the outcome of the 2020 election and had refused to accept Joe Biden’s alleged victory.
“The defendant has espoused disbelief in the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election, and violently acted on that world view,” said Paschall.
In spite of the draconian inquisitions, radical Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, tweeted that there hadn’t been nearly enough arrests, suggesting that all 40,000 of the pro-Trump demonstrators estimated to be in attendance should now be held to account.
2/4 alleged that 40,000 protesters were in DC with the mindset to overturn a legitimate election and to kill the Speaker, the Vice President, and Members of Congress, in that instance, only 300 persons have now been arrested and are being prosecuted. What kind of justice is that?
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) March 3, 2021
DEMOCRAT DUPLICITY
Whether mercy is warranted for the actions of those present at the Jan. 6 protest, the double-standard is undeniable.
The uprising followed—and was, in many ways a direct response to—months of violent leftist riots in cities nationwide, including Washington, DC.
Moreover, the same leaders who now call for brutal crackdowns had previously endorsed the rioting when it advanced their political agenda.
During the Trump-era backlash over the detention of migrant children (a practice that President Joe Biden has now resurrected with far less resistance), then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, “I don’t even know why there aren’t uprisings all over the country.”
Trump’s impeachment lawyers powerfully used the words of many leftist leaders against them when successfully arguing for his acquittal during last month’s Senate trial.
Meanwhile, when it comes to holding violent leftist rioters accountable, federal prosecutors have taken the opposite approach from the MAGA protestors—quietly dismissing “with prejudice” dozens of cases in Portland, Oregon, alone.
For months- I’ve been tracking dozens of federal cases stemming from last summer’s protests in downtown Portland. So far, 34 of 90 cases have quietly been dismissed by the U.S. Dept. of Justice- including both misdemeanor and felony charges. https://t.co/L4zdj3axH7 pic.twitter.com/rPQHpMdcQr
— Kyle Iboshi (@KyleIboshi) March 4, 2021
Nor does the fact that one of them happened during broad daylight at the US Capitol offer a reasonable explanation for the persecution and “enhanced” legal attacks on conservatives.
During the 2018 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, dangerous paid activists aggressively cornered and confronted Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in an elevator.
Rather than sic the Justice Department on them, Flake credited them with helping influence his decision to broker a compromise with his Democrat colleagues on the Judiciary Committee.
Among those previously arrested but not charged for protesting inside the Capitol was current Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who led a prayer-group in the Rotunda to protest healthcare cuts in 2017.
2017 in The Capitol Clergy were Peacefully protesting budget cuts by kneeling and singing hymns They were arrested, among them is Senator-Elect Raphael Warnock?? #maddow #CapitolBuilding pic.twitter.com/VykcOJFHy2
— Kikkay (@NikkisBubble) January 8, 2021
Democrats have deflected from the disparity in arraignments by attempting to introduce the canard of race into the issue, maintaining that their social-justice cause was a more justifiable grounds for breaking the law.
However, reports surfaced recently that in a 2007 interview with David Letterman, then-US Sen. Joe Biden also boasted of having been arrested at the Capitol when he was 21.
RE-EDUCATION COMPLETE
For the time being, the long tradition of demonstrating on the Capitol grounds—protected under the First Amendment—has been suspended, and those tasked with upholding equal justice for all have been relegated to the role of Democrat Party consiglieres.
Should Republicans regain power in the future, the Left may come to rue its totalitarian suppression efforts.
For now, though, it appears to be succeeding in its mission to re-educate and break the will of unreconstructed deplorables like the Cua family.
“Since [Bruno] has been arrested, everything has changed for us,” said his mother, Alise, who along with her husband, Joseph, also has been threatened with the possibility of charges that would force the family’s two younger children into foster care.
“We really just hope for mercy,” she continued. “We just want our family together. I don’t even want to even hear the word politics. Bruno feels the same way. We are completely broken.”
